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Injured Esks QB Matt Nichols upbeat as he looks to 2014

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Matt Nichols talks to the media after the team announced he sustained a torn ACL during last Friday’s pre-season loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He will undergo surgery and is out for the season.

Photograph by: Bruce Edwards
, Bruce Edwards/Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON — Say this for Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Matt Nichols, for a tough booger, he sure can be upbeat, focused, mature, team-oriented and utterly averse to self-pity or facile hindsight.

Hours after he learned his season was a writeoff owing to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, there was Nichols, confidently telling a media mob at Commonwealth Stadium he would be 100 per cent healthy for the 2014 training camp.

Who could doubt him? After all, this is the same 26-year-old Nichols who suffered that gruesome dislocated ankle in the East Division semifinal against the Toronto Argonauts last November, yet was fully fit and healthy for the start of this training camp.

To prove it, Nichols was in the process of matching off-season acquisition Mike Reilly snap-for-snap, throw-for-throw, completion-for-completion in practice and in the only pre-season game so far, that 31-24 loss to Saskatchewan on Friday night.

Then Nichols suffered a second catastrophic leg injury in back-to-back games, as it were, twisting his knee as he tried to make a tackle to prevent a touchdown on an interception he had just thrown. In a meaningless game, at that.

“I was just playing football,” Nichols said. In a similar situation in the future, he’d try to make a tackle again. That’s football, and that’s Matt Nichols.

But now that Nichols won’t play at all this season, where does this leave the Eskimos?

Here’s where: Reilly is their undisputed starter, no questions asked. Well, maybe one question. He has just three CFL starts on his resume, all with the B.C. Lions. Is there any doubt he’s ready for this role?

“No, no,” Reilly said, with some heat and plenty of conviction. “If I was doubtful about preparing to be a starter, I wouldn’t have left B.C., plain and simple.

“That’s the reason why I left, because I felt I was ready to take on the role of starter. And here we go.”

Where the Eskimos go with the No. 2 quarterback remains unclear, in a tantalizing, open-minded, progressive sort of way.

Veteran Kerry Joseph, who turns 40 in early October, and rookies Jacory Harris and Jonathan Crompton are tussling for the No. 2 and No. 3 spots now.

And, listen to me, it would be a major mistake for fans to concede the backup job to Joseph by default, with either Harris or Crompton slotted in as the third man and the other consigned to the practice roster.

It also would be a major mistake for the Eskimos, under general manager Ed Hervey and head coach Kavis Reed, not to use this situation to open the door to one of their talented young quarterbacks. Rest assured, the football people are proceeding with open minds.

Both Harris and Crompton showed poise and ability against Saskatchewan, which is not surprising. Harris is a product of the Miami University football factory, while Crompton played university ball at Tennessee, which produced the likes of quarterbacks Peyton Manning and, for CFL fans of a certain age, Condredge Holloway.

Against Saskatchewan, Crompton showcased a powerful throwing arm. His pre-season game stint would have been the more impressive had a couple of receivers not dropped catchable balls, either or both of which could have been TDs or set up major scores.

At six-foot-four, 225 pounds, Crompton is a sizable pocket passer who has captured the attention of the coaching staff in fashion not unlike a young Ricky Ray did when he first showed up in Edmonton in 2002. Which is not to make a direct comparison, at all.

But Crompton makes people take notice with his arm, football IQ and his confidence.

He has that ‘something’ that coaches look for in a quarterback. He’ll be given a significant look on Friday night in B.C., when the Eskimos close out the pre-season, another chance to move up another notch on the depth chart.

As will Harris.

As cruelly unfair as that torn ACL is for Nichols, it does provide clarity for Reilly, who now will get all the No. 1 repetitions in practice, and will not be looking over his shoulder, however subconsciously, when he hits a bad patch.

It’s also a good thing the Eskimos will proceed with an open mind about the No. 2 job, smart that they’re prepared to let a young quarterback grow with that role, if he shows he’s ready.

Put it this way, both Harris and Crompton have so far shown far more presence, poise and game-readiness as so-called depth quarterbacks than other young QBs have shown in recent years here.

During the Ray era, it was not a crucial issue, since Ray rarely missed time owing to injury and everyone knew he was the quarterback, period. Let alone No. 1.

Part of putting the Ray era well behind them, is installing talented young quarterbacks and developing them. Reilly already is in place.

It will be fascinating to watch Crompton and Harris try to carve out their own niches as his backup.

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Matt Nichols talks to the media after the team announced he sustained a torn ACL during last Friday’s pre-season loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He will undergo surgery and is out for the season.

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